Del Mar Book Store to close after 62 years

Michael Zamora/Caller-Times
The Del Mar Book Store, across the street from Del Mar College on Ayers Street, is closing after 62 years in business. Owners Jerry and Vera McCord said they have few textbooks but will remain open as they continue to close up shop and empty out the building.

Corpus Christi Caller-Times

CORPUS CHRISTI - Local businessman Jerry McCord held his 78-year-old hands together as he surveyed the bare, metal shelves of the Del Mar Book Store.

McCord reminisced about the impact his business along the 2500 block of Ayers Street has had on students, staff and faculty at Del Mar College.

Help finding textbooks. Assistance with book loans or scholarships. Time spent making friends with Del Mar professors and staff.

The memories almost seem too much for McCord, who attended Del Mar in the 1950s.

After 62 years in business, his store is closing.

McCord's father, T.P. McCord, developed the Dahlia Terrace addition near Ayers. In 1950, 15 years after Del Mar College was founded, he opened the bookstore, which isn't affiliated with the college.

The store's history and proximity to the college make it even more painful for McCord and his wife, Vera, to say goodbye.

The couple, who met at Del Mar while Vera worked as a secretary, started the process of closing the Del Mar Book Store in April when they laid off their four employees. They also began sending textbooks back to publishers. The McCords said the store will close when the inventory is gone, and they plan to sell the building.

In recent years, students haven't had as much use for physical bookstores with the advancement of e-books, textbook rentals and online textbook shopping, the couple said.

"Del Mar isn't big enough for three (local) bookstores and the Internet," McCord said, referring to his store, the nearby Neebo bookstore and the campus bookstore run by Texas Book Company.

Del Mar College's addition of a campus bookstore several years ago marked the beginning of the change, McCord said.

The McCord's generosity and helpful nature seemed to help keep customers coming back, though. More recently, hundreds of students have been turned away because the store no longer carries what they need.

Alex Gonzalez, 19, said he always received quality service when he visited the store each semester.

When he couldn't find a communications book Tuesday in the store, the couple gave him some spiral notebooks at no charge before he left.

Gonzalez said the store closing is disappointing.

But like many others, he said he also shops online for textbooks and rentals.

"Saving money is my No. 1 deal right now," he said.

Alma Moreno, who was picking up supplies Tuesday for her son who is starting at Del Mar this fall, said she would always try the Del Mar Book Store first for any items she needed for her small business.

"I'm very disappointed to know they're gone," she said "It's like an institution, and (McCord is) like an icon."